Complete! Post HBP HHr – Takes place well into year seven. Harry and Hermione have grown closer, yet aren’t in a romantic relationship. Story is told from Hermione’s POV. No Ron bashing, but there might some Ginny bashing.

Disclaimer
The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to
J. K. Rowling. No infringement intended, just borrowing.

Plot summary: Yeah, it's another post
HBP H/Hr – but it's my first foray into HP fanfic land. Takes
place well into year 7. H/Hr are staying at Grimmauld Place –
working together to find the Horcruxes. They have grown closer, yet
aren't in a romantic relationship (yet?). They are together almost
24/7, even sharing the same bed. Story is told from Hermione's
POV.

Hermione Granger lay wide-awake in a four-poster
bed while Harry Potter snored lightly next to her but it wasn't his
snoring that kept her awake. She had a lot on her mind, which wasn't
unusual. Even as a small child her insatiable intellectual curiosity
always kept her mind active, even as she would try to sleep. But
these current thoughts had nothing to do intellect, even though she
had spent the better part of the past six months doing research to
help Harry find the Horcruxes they desperately needed to finally rid
the world of the scourge named Voldemort.

She hated that name. While most in the wizarding
world dare not speak his name out of fear, Hermione's distaste was
mostly borne out the pain that creature caused Harry. Hermione
glanced over at his sleeping form. Just then, his snoring stopped as
he rolled over onto his side, toward Hermione, his arm landing across
her stomach. He'd been doing that a lot lately, she mused.

One recent night he actually snuggled against her
as he slept. Hermione wondered if Harry was aware on some level what
he was doing. Perhaps he was imagining that she was Ginny. She
assumed that he missed her terribly although Harry never verbalized
those feelings. He wasn't the type to say, "I miss Ginny" out
of the blue and she never really asked him, not really wanting to
know the answer. He never asked her if she missed Ron, either, whom
she did, just not in the way she assumed Harry thought.

Soon after Dumbledore's funeral, she and Ron
started dating. They had stopped fighting and grown closer. Ron
seemed different, more mature and Hermione thought she finally had
what she wanted. But being Ron Weasley's girlfriend was much
different from her fantasies. They had fun together but something
was missing. When he kissed her, her insides didn't melt like she
had thought they would.

As the weeks progressed, she hoped she would feel
differently but it was like dating a brother. She didn't want to
break Ron's heart but one day she finally told him how she felt.
To her relief, Ron felt the same way. In retrospect, maybe all those
years of bickering weren't solely because of sexual tension, but
more akin to siblings scrapping with each other.

Hermione and Ron agreed on another thing – they
decided to keep their break-up a secret from Harry. Although never
explicitly expressed amongst the trio, it was understood that Ron and
Hermione should be together in case Harry didn't survive his battle
with Voldemort. It was one less thing that Harry should worry about,
knowing that his two best friends had found love and comfort in each
other in his absence.

They had done a good job of keeping up
appearances, holding hands and occasionally snogging in front of
Harry. But then Ron's mother suddenly became ill and he returned
home to the Burrow two months ago to help take care of her and
maintain the house while his father and older brothers worked extra
hours to pay for her care. Ginny decided to stay home as well and
took time off from her sixth year at Hogwarts to look after her mum.

Hermione missed Ron's friendship and her heart
ached for him and his family, knowing that Molly might not survive
the year. She had shed many tears over Ron's leaving, but it had
more to do with worrying about him losing a loved one, rather than
missing her boyfriend. Harry was none the wiser. It was better this
way… or was it?

Hermione felt Harry's grip on her tighten a
little. She turned to watch him; his face illuminated by the pale
full moon outside the window. She noticed his closed eyes twitching
and realized that he must've been dreaming. Hermione hoped that it
wasn't another nightmare about Voldemort. Harry had last had one
two weeks ago, the last time she had slept in her own bed. Her mind
wandered back to that night.

She was in a deep sleep, dreaming about finding
another Horcrux, when she heard an agonizing scream. It took her a
moment to realize that the scream was coming from across the hall and
not a remnant from her dream. Hermione pulled back the covers and
ran in her bare feet across the hall to Harry's room, grabbing a
lantern to light her way.

She quickly opened the door and saw Harry
thrashing around in his four poster, yelling "Noooooo!" Hermione
set her lantern down on his nightstand and gently grabbed him by the
shoulders.

"Harry, wake up!" She commanded and he
opened his eyes. He looked around, taking in his surroundings.

"Hermione?" he rasped.

"Yes, it's me. It's okay, you just had
another nightmare." She said firmly, staring at his bright green
eyes as they darted around the room, willing them to stop and look
back at her.

His breath slowed a little and Hermione felt
herself being pulled into Harry's arms. His heart hammered against
her chest and she felt the sweat from his soaked t-shirt absorbing
into her thick cotton nightgown.

They sat there for a few minutes as Hermione
gently murmured words of comfort into Harry's ear. She couldn't
stand to see him like this, feeling powerless to stop the terrors
that invaded his dreams on almost a nightly basis.

Finally Harry pulled away from her. "Sorry,"
he said sheepishly.

"It's all right. You have nothing to be
sorry for."

"I feel terrible that I keep waking you
almost every night. When was the last time you got a good night's
sleep?"

Hermione wasn't surprised by his question.
This was typical Harry; concerned about others when he should be
concerned about himself.

"When was the last time you got a good
night's sleep?" She countered.

Harry chuckled. "When I was ten?"

She gave a rueful laugh and then asked what she
always did after his nightmares.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Harry said shaking his head.
Hermione didn't want to push so she asked the usual second
question.

"How is your scar?"

She saw him wince as he touched his forehead.
"It's throbbing – but it's better than it was the last time."

Hermione sighed. Not only did he suffer from
nightmares but he had to deal with his painful scar as well. A bit
of inspiration hit her. She remembered as a child she had been
learning to ride a bicycle when she fell and skinned her knee.
Little Hermione cried as her mother cleaned and bandaged the wound.
When she was done, her mother leaned down and kissed her bandaged
knee. Suddenly it didn't hurt so much. What if….?

She leaned in and kissed Harry's scar gently.

As she pulled back, she looked at him intently.
"How does it feel now?"

Harry stopped wincing and looked at her
quizzically. "That's strange. The pain's gone. Not only
that, it tingles."

"Really, it worked?" Hermione was
relieved.

"Did you do some kind of spell?" Harry
asked.

"A spell?" Hermione shook her head,
amused. "No, it's just an idea I had." She went on to explain
about her childhood memory and the effect her mother's kiss had on
the pain. She watched Harry's reaction. He nodded and looked a
bit wistful.

"I wish I had a story like that to tell. I
have no memory of my mum's kiss."

Her heart ached at this admission but before
she could respond Harry said, "Do it again."

Hermione had a theory but she wasn't sure if
she should share it with him right now, especially considering their
current location.

"I'm working on it," was all she would
allow.

"Okay, but let me know when you have it
worked out. I'm really curious."

Hermione yawned, hoping to change the subject.
"I guess I should go back to bed – you seem to be in a much
better state than the one I found you in."

Harry had turned onto his back. "Or you
could stay." He said sleepily.

Hermione's heart accelerated at these words.
"You want me to stay?"

"You just seem really comfortable already.
Besides if I have another nightmare, you won't have to run across
the hall." He said before dropping off to sleep.

So she stayed with him that night and every night
since. They had both decided it was best that she sleep in his room
in case something happened. Coincidentally, the nightmares ceased
once she started sleeping next to Harry.

Hermione
held her breath as Harry's grip grew even tighter across her
ribcage, but then he relaxed it and she exhaled. She didn't want
him to have any more bad dreams. He'd had more than his share of
them and she wondered if perhaps her presence somehow stopped the
nightmares from occurring. After all, if her kiss could stop his
scar from hurting…

Get
off it Granger. Do you really think that you are keeping Harry's
nightmares at bay? Her conscience chided her.

Well
I am a witch, perhaps there's some sort of nightmare protection
charm I'm performing on Harry that I'm not aware of. She
shot back, making a mental note to look that one up in the Black
family library.

Don't
delude yourself into thinking this is magic. You secretly wish that
Harry fall in love with you and that your mere presence makes him
dream about nothing but being with you.

Hermione
was so shocked by this thought that she gasped. The nerve of her
conscience, how dare she imply that her intentions were less than
pure? She didn't want Harry to fall in love with her, did she? It
would be too messy. And anyway, she was supposed to be holding up
her part of the game, as Ron's girlfriend.

Still,
she was tiring of the charade, especially since Ron was not part of
their daily routine, at least for a while. And she didn't like
lying to Harry. As best friends, the trio made a promise not to
hide anything, especially as the final battle drew closer. Harry
asserted that their bond must be stronger than ever in order to bring
about Voldemort's destruction. That meant no lies, no secrets, and
no hidden agendas; even if it meant that they revealed things the
other didn't want to hear.

But
what would happen if she told him that she and Ron had been
pretending to be a couple? That not only meant revealing their
deceit, but also the reason for it. They hardly ever spoke of the
possibility of Harry's death, ever since he had revealed the
prophecy to them last year. Hermione's biggest fear was losing
Harry and she couldn't verbalize it - because if she did, the
possibility would become real.

She
never used to be like this. Hermione was the one person who always
told him the truth, even if it meant telling him how scared she was.
But that was when they were younger, things were a little simpler,
and that was before she….

Oh
screw it, Granger. Just admit you're in love with him.

At
that moment, Harry shifted and turned over onto his other side away
from Hermione. She immediately felt bereft by the loss of contact.

Oh
dear Merlin. I am in love with him!

TBC?

A/N:
I know that Molly's illness is a plot device but I would imagine
that even in the wizarding world, people do get sick and can't be
cured by magic (hence St. Mungo's).

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